– preliminary list of electors being prepared
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will commence the mandatory Claims and Objections process on Monday, according to its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Vishnu Persaud, who added that GECOM is currently in the process of preparing a preliminary list of electors.
The Claims and Objections is a mandatory exercise in preparation for the upcoming general elections; and during this; persons who are 18-years-old and over would be given the opportunity to apply for registration. Such persons must be in possession of their birth certificates or valid passports and other supporting documents, such as marriage certificates or deed polls, as might be necessary.
Persaud told the Guyana Chronicle that September 30, 2011, is the qualifying date for determining persons who would be 18 years or over, and could be registered during this Claims and Objections exercise.
He stressed that persons who would be eligible to vote at the upcoming elections are required to check the Divisional Lists which are being publicly displayed in their respective Registration Divisions/Sub-Divisions.
He explained that once the lists are checked, the relevant persons can proceed with the process of:
* Making a claim to entry on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) if they will be eligible to vote at the upcoming elections and their names are not on the list;
* Applying for a transfer if they have changed their addresses since they were last registered;
* Applying for a name change or correction if they have changed their names or if there is incorrect information on their National ID Cards; and/or* Objecting to the inclusion of the name of any person who is suspected not to have met the
eligibility requirements for such inclusion

CONCERN
However, a persisting concern of a cross section of stakeholders is the fact that there are still a number of unregistered persons.
It is estimated that 9,000 persons are eligible to be registered and placed on the voters’ list, but are unable to do so because they are not in possession of birth certificates or other source documents.
The Commission has acknowledged that during the conduct of the 2008 house-to-house registration exercise, thousands of persons could not apply for the registration as provided for under the National Registration Act Chapter 19:08, because they were not in possession of their birth certificates.
GECOM has since communicated with the relevant stakeholders, including the political parties, in an effort to have them advocate the need for registration to their constituents.
The parliamentary political parties agreed that only original birth certificates and valid passports, along with supporting documents, such as marriage certificates and deed polls, would be accepted as source documents for registration.
Also, the political parties had agreed that baptismal certificates, expired passports, photocopies of relevant documents or letters from priests, elders, head masters, village captains/toshaos and justices of the peace or existing ID cards will not be acceptable as source documents for registration.
According to GECOM, once an acceptable List of Electors is finalised, it forms the basis for the staging of elections.
Elections are constitutionally due every five years and are likely before the end of 2011.